Family, authorities follow up new leads in missing man case

Wednesday

Nov 29, 2017 at 6:40 PMNov 29, 2017 at 6:40 PM

Jacob was 19 years old when he was last seen in October 2015. According to his parents, James and Judy, Jacob struggled with mental illness and substance abuse issues around the time he vanished, but they do not believe their son disappeared on his own.

Annie Blanks @DestinLogAnnie

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — A search party for missing Niceville man Jacob Lyon turned up empty Wednesday, but after more than two years of searching for their missing son, new leads are giving Jacob’s parents hope he will be found.

Jacob was 19 years old when he was last seen in October 2015. According to his parents, James and Judy, Jacob struggled with mental illness and substance abuse issues around the time he vanished, but they do not believe their son disappeared on his own.

“Jacob was hardworking,” Judy said. “Someone would call him up to do something and he’d be right there beside you. He didn’t make an enemy. He always had friends ... ain’t nobody got anything bad to say about Jacob. But if he’s into all this stuff that they keep saying he’s in, he’s going to have at least one enemy. At least one.”

After two years of fruitless leads, authorities got a potential break in the case earlier this month when an inmate at the Walton County Jail allegedly admitted to helping dispose of Jacob’s body in a wooded area off U.S. Highway 331 North in DeFuniak Springs.

The tip led Jacob’s family to the area about nine miles south of U.S. Highway 90 last week, where they said they uncovered a barrel in the woods that could have connections to Jacob’s disappearance.

On Wednesday morning, the family and investigators from the Niceville Police Department and Walton County Sheriff’s Office, conducted a two-hour search of a private property in DeFuniak Springs in hopes of finding something that could lead them to Jacob.

“We’re hoping to find my son,” Judy said, speaking through tears. “Not that I want him to be out here, but this is where the leads are leading us to. It’s heartbreaking; it’s not something that we’ve been looking forward to. We’ve been hoping that he’s out there somewhere.”

Cadaver dogs from the KlaasKids National Search Center for Mising Children assisted in the search. At one point while canvassing the area, searchers found what appeared to be bones, but it was determined the bones were from an animal and not a human. After two hours of scouring the premises, authorities called it off.

“We, at this point in time, have been all over the land. ... We have searched those (woods) with K-9s and covered that area that was part of the lead that we initially received,” Walton County sheriff's investigator Mark Collins said. “We didn’t find anything of evidentiary value. We didn’t find anything of value at all in regards to the lead that had been generated in regards to this area specifically.”

The lead was just one of many Niceville police have received in the years since Jacob’s disappearance, according to Police Chief David Popwell. He said Wednesday his investigators had gone to multiple neighboring counties to follow up n countless leads.

Popwell added he was holding out hope Jacob would be found alive.

“Every possible lead has been checked out,” Popwell said. “The case is not a dead case, is not a dropped case. It is a very active case.”

Collins said officials will continue to search other areas of the highway for signs of Jacob or clues as to what might have happened to him. His parents said Wednesday’s search didn’t end the way they had hoped, but they were more determined than ever to solve the mystery and find their son.

“We all deserve to know the truth,” Judy said. “If anybody out there knows anything about my son, please come forward. My family has suffered enough.”